RFI.docx

United States Department of the Interior

INTERIOR BUSINESS CENTER

Washington, DC 20240

ACQUISITION SERVICES DIRECTORATE

TO: All Prospective Offerors

FROM: Juan Rendon, Contract Specialist, U.S. Department of the Interior, Interior Business Center, Acquisition Services Directorate

DATE: January 26, 2018

SUBJECT: 140D0418Q0113, Request for Information (RFI), U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Budget (POB) Administrative Support

1. INTRODUCTION

The U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), Interior Business Center (IBC), Acquisition Services Directorate (AQD) is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to receive comments and related documentation in regard to the attached draft Statement of Work (SOW) titled: Publication and Administrative Support for Budget Documents. AQD is acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Budget (POB).

2. REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI) ONLY

This RFI is a mechanism for obtaining feedback from industry in regard to the requirements stated below and the attached SOW, for information and planning purposes pursuant to FAR 15.201 (e). This is not a synopsis preceding the issuance of a solicitation. Rather, it is market research issued solely for information purposes only – it does not constitute a Request for Proposal (RFP) or a promise to issue an RFP. This RFI does not commit the Government to contract for any supply or service. AQD and the POB are not at this time seeking proposals. Responders are advised that the U.S. Government will not pay any cost incurred in response to this RFI. All costs associated with responding to this RFI will be solely at the interested parties’ expense. Any information provided by industry to the Government as a result of this RFI is voluntary. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation. It is recommended that interested parties monitor the Federal Business Opportunities website (http://www.fedbizopps.gov) for any information that may pertain to this RFI. The information provided in this RFI is subject to change and is not binding on the Government.

3. BACKGROUND

DOI, POB prepares annual budget justification materials for Congress and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). In order to meet the requirements and strict timelines of Congress and OMB, as well as standards for information and communication technology for Federal agencies, POB requires non-personal services.

In accordance with 31 USC 1105, the President of the United States is required to submit a budget request to the United States' Congress no later than the first Monday in February (February 4, 2019). However, pending decisions by OMB sometimes delay the budget and budget preparation which means timelines are generally abbreviated due to the legally required deadline. In addition, Section 508 – Standards for Information and Communication Technology for Federal Agencies – of the United States Workforce Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended (36 CFR 1194), requires Federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.

POB produces the Congressional Justifications and an annual Budget in Brief (BiB) for Interior's rollout of the President's Budget yearly. This SOW solicits non-personal services in the effort to develop the BiB to gather data, compile it in the proper format, extensively proofread and edit the material for consistency in context, validate numbers, and format the document for publishing both hard copy and online, all compliant with Section 508 requirements, in a short window of time (approximately six to eight weeks).

The BiB is approximately a 200 page summary of the Department's budget, including funding details for every bureau and office within the Department. The document also outlines Secretarial policy on high priority initiatives and proposals. The book consists of text, tables, graphs, photographs, and various appendices, which outline Interior’s funding priorities for the budget year. The DOI FY 2018 BiB can be found at the following link: https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/2018_highlights_book.pdf

Further, this SOW also solicits Non-personal services throughout the year to support POB to develop other budget documents, including such items as the Payment in Lieu of Taxes National Summary, budget summary reports, and briefing documents

4. DESCRIPTION OF INFORMATION REQUESTED

The Government will consider all comments, questions, and issues raised by all prospective offerors in formulating requirements for any resultant solicitation document. The information contained here and in the attached DRAFT SOW, reflects the Government’s anticipated requirements as of the date on this RFI. The purpose of the RFI is to solicit comments regarding this upcoming acquisition. The issuance of this RFI is designed to gather as much information as possible to ensure that the Government’s requirements are clear, concise, and possibly improve the requirements based on industry best practices and lessons learned, which may be stated in a future solicitation. Offerors are requested to provide the following information:

a. Respondents are requested to provide comments on the DRAFT SOW posted on Federal Business Opportunities at www.fbo.gov.

b. Identify and discuss experience your company has in regards to the requirement identified in this SOW. Please go into detail.

c. Can you project firm-fixed prices for support services for the duration of the contract? If so, what information would the Government need to provide in order to propose a firm-fixed price? Please identify (with rationale) if your company believes that a Firm-Fixed Price (FFP) pricing arrangement is not most appropriate for this type of requirement and if not, suggest more appropriate contract type(s) considering the nature and risk associated with this requirement. Are there any others you believe can be written as FFP? Please provide rationale.

d. Identify any existing contracts and Federal Supply Schedules that lend itself to this requirement.

e. Identify if your company is one or more of the following business types: large business, small business, small disadvantaged business, 8(a) concern, women-owned small business, economically disadvantaged women-owned small business (EDWOSB) concern, HUBZone, veteran-owned, or service-disabled veteran-owned small business based on the NAICS identified herein

f. Identify if company is U.S. or foreign-owned.

g. Identify the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code(s) applicable to this requirement.

h. Identify your company's size given the NAICS Code you identified above.

i. Identify the Product Service Code (PSC) applicable to this requirement.

j. Do you provide these types of services in the commercial marketplace?

k. Identify the technical and programmatic risks you foresee in executing this requirement. Define risk reduction measures you would employ to address these risks.

l. Provide your plan for Small Business participation and address what you would consider to be an appropriate incentive should the government impose Small Business subcontracting goals as part of the evaluation criteria of a resulting solicitation.

m. Provide the name, telephone number, mailing address, and email address of a point of contact having authority and knowledge to discuss responses with Government representatives.

5. EVALUATION OF RESPONSES

All responses received by the due date will be thoroughly reviewed by the acquisition team and are subject to incorporation into the final requirements. Responses to the RFI will not be considered in the evaluation for award of any resultant solicitation.

6. FORMAT OF RESPONSES

Please provide a synopsis of your company’s capabilities and contact information with no more than twenty (20) single-sided pages, 10-point font, minimum one-inch margins, in Microsoft Word format with a “.docx” or “.doc” extension or in Adobe format with a .pdf extension.

To the extent possible, all responses should be unclassified and for general access by the Government, other evaluators, and other respondents. Any proprietary information submitted must be clearly and separately identified and marked and will be appropriately protected. The Government will NOT be responsible for any proprietary information not clearly marked. All material provided (responses, discussions, questions/answers, and other data) that is not related to competition sensitive or contractor proprietary material, may be provided (without attribution) to other respondents. Any material provided may be used in development of future solicitations.

7. QUESTIONS

Questions or requests for clarification shall be submitted alongside the capability statement by the due date stated below. However, the government reserves the right to address questions with potential vendors as it deems necessary.

8. DUE DATE

Submissions shall be submitted no later than February 8, 2018, 3:00PM EST. Submissions shall be sent via email to the Contract Specialists Juan Rendon at juan_rendon@ibc.doi.gov and Christopher Clarke at Christopher_clarke@ibc.doi.gov.

9. POINT OF CONTACT

If you have any questions in regard to this RFI please contact the Contract Specialist Mr. Juan Rendon at juan_rendon@ibc.doi.gov.

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